We are presently preparing for the Tisha b’Av (9th of Ab) remembrance here in Israel this weekend. The Azekah students have gone to the Dead Sea for a tour and I am alone here at Nes Harim, watching the Shabbat sun set over Bet Shemesh. All is quiet as it should be for a solemn remembrance of this sort.

The religious mourn the destruction of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem, along with other tragedies that are said to have taken place on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av. (The defeat of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion and the subsequent leveling of Jerusalem are also attributed to the 9th of Av.) However, even the non-religious here remember with much solemnity the destruction of Jerusalem and its temples. They were tragic, defining moments for Jews in 586 BCE and 70 CE.

And as the state of Israel winds down for this Sabbath, commemoration, and associated period of fasting, I will read and write and reflect on both tragedy and hope for tomorrow.

Because it is good to remember. And it is good to lament for a time. For those who fail to remember the past tend to repeat it.